Spindle drive arrangement for textile machines



Dec. 25, 1962 J. STEICHELE 3,069,835 SPINDLE DRIVE ARRANGEMENT FORTEXTILE MACHINES Filed Sept. 9. 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

Dec. 25, 1962 sTElCHELE 3,069,835

SPINDLE DRIVE ARRANGEMENT FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Sept. 9, 1960 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Unite This invention relates to textile machinery, andmore particularly to a drive arrangement for the spindles of a spinning,twisting, or similar machine.

In such machines a plurality of spindles are common- 1y arranged in arow which extends along the drive shaft of the machine. Drive pulleysaxially spaced on the drive shaft are connected to the whorl portion ofeach portion of each spindle by belt means, such as ropes or roundbelts, tapes, or flat belts.

it is the principal object of the present invention to pro vide a drivearrangement of the general type described which requires but a minimumof space.

Another object is the provision of such a drive arrangernent which hasbut few and simple moving parts arranged in such a manner that they neednot be critically aligned during assembly, and are thus quickly andeasily assembled by only moderately skilled workmen.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a drivearrangement for a spinning machine and the like which is rugged anddependable so as to give long, uninterrupted service, and to require buta minimum of maintenance.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide a drivearrangement as described above which gives easy access to all elementsrequiring maintenance, and more particularly permits rapid changing ofdrive belts for maintenance purposes.

With these and other objects in view, the invention provides lever meanspivoted on the frame of the spinning machine and two idler pulleysmounted on the lever means for rotation about fixed respective axes. Anendless belt is sequentially trained over a drive pulley on the shaft ofthe machine, the two idler pulleys, and the whorl portion of a spindlewhich is intended to be driven by the drive arrangement. Pressure meansurge the lever means to pivot on the machine frame for belt tensioningmovement of the idler pulleys.

In its more specific aspects the invention is concerned with a drivearrangement for a plurality of spindles which are rotatable on a machineframe, and are aligned in a row substantially parallel to the axis ofthe main machine drive shaft. Each of the spindles has a whorl portionadapted to receive a drive belt. A plurality of two-armed levers arepivoted on the machine frame about respective pivoting axes which aresubstantially parallel to the axis of the drive shaft. A tensioning anda reversing pulley are respectively mounted on the two arms of each ofthe levers and are capable of rotating about axes which are fixed withrespect to the lever. An endless belt is sequentially trained over eachone of the drive pulleys, one of the reversing pulleys and thetensioning pulley on the same coordinated lever, and then over the whorlportion of a coordinated spindle so as to transmit the rotary movementof the shaft to the spindles.

Other features and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwill become apparent to those skilled in the art as the disclosure ismade in the following description of a preferred embodiment of theinvention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side-elevational, partly sectional fragmentary view of aspinning machine equipped with a drive atrangement of the invention; and

rates Fatent Q iCQ FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 in fragmentaryplan view, with some elements broken away to reveal others.

Referring now to the drawing, and initially to FIG. 1, there is seen aspindle rail 1, 1' which is a member of the stationary machine frame andextends along the entire front of a spinning machine which is shown inFIG. 1 only to the extent necessary for an explanation of the presentinvention. The spindle rail 1, 1 is of inverted L-shaped cross section,and the shorter leg 1 of the L- shape is provided with a number ofaligned openings in each of which a spindle bearing 2 is mounted bymeans of clamping nuts 3 in the usual manner. Only one spindle and theassociated elements are seen in FIG. 1. A rotary spindle shaft 4 isrotatably mounted in the bearing 2. It has an integral whorl portion 5of conventional shape.

The longer leg 1' of the L-shaped spindle rail 1, 1' carrieslongitudinally spaced pillow blocks 6 in the aligned bores of which adrive shaft 7 is mounted to extend perpendicularly to the spindle shaft4. The drive shaft carries a plurality of drive pulleys 8, one of whichis associated with each one of the spindles.

The bottom portion of each pillow block 6 has an integral bracket 6attached thereto in which a cylindrical supporting rod 9 parallel to theshaft 7 is fixedly mounted. A bell crank lever 10 is pivoted on the rod9 to swing in a plane through the related spindle. A pivot portion 11 ofthe lever 1t which is seated on the rod 9 for rocking support of thelever 10, is formed with a substantially semicylindrical recess.Pivoting movement of the lever 10 on the rod 9 is limited by a guide pin12 which is fixedly fastened on the rod h and engages an opening 11 ofthe pivot portion 11. The opening which is circumferentially elongatedfixes the axial position of the lever 10 on the rod 9, and abutment ofthe pin 12 against the axially extending end walls of the slot 11'limits the pivoting movement of the lever 14 to an angle ofapproximately 15.

The bell crank lever 10 has a short arm 10' and a long arm 10" on whichtwo idler pulleys 13 and 14 are respectively mounted for rotation aboutrespective fixed pins. The axis of rotation of the idler pulley 13,hereinafter referred to as reversing pulley, extends radially from theaxis of rod 9. The axis of the idler pulley 14, hereinafter referred toas tensioning pulley, is parallel to the axes of rod 9 and of the maindrive shaft 7.

A tensioning Weight 15 is integral with the lever 10 and its weighttogether with the excess of weight of the longer arm 10 over the shortlever arm 10' tends to pivot the bell crank lever 10 in a clockwisedirection about the axis of the rod 9, as viewed in FIG. 1. A narrowdrive belt 16 is trained over the whorl portion :5 of the spindle, thedrive pulley 8, and the idler pulleys 13 and 14 as will be betterapparent from FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the spinning machine shown inFIG. 1. Three spindles are shown to be mounted on the shorter leg 1 ofthe spindle rail 1, 1' but the drive arrangement of only one of thespindles is shown completely, the drive arrangement of another one isshown only in part, and the drive arrangement of the third one has beencompletely omitted in order not to crowd the drawing.

Referring to the drive arrangement of the central spindle shown, it isseen that the belt 16 is trained sequentially over the drive pulley 8,the whorl portion 5 of the spindle, the tensioning pulley 14 and thereversing pulley 13, whereupon it returns to the drive pulley 8. Thedirection of belt movement is indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 1.

While the drive arrangement of the invention is capable of manyvariations and modifications, the illustrated specific arrangement ofthe several pulleys over which the belt 16 is trained, has been foundmost economical of space, an important consideration in a spinningmachine. The two strands of the belt 16, which in the embodimentillustrated is a narrow tape, are passed from the whorl portion 5 inapproximately a common horizontal plane towards the drive pulley 8 andthe tension pulley 14 respectively. The two pulleys rotate aboutparallel axes which are offset in a vertical direction by the differenceof their effective radii. In this manner the plane defined by the twostrands of the belt 16 is substantially tangential to the drive pulley 8and the tensioning pulley 14. The reversing pulley 13 is arranged insuch a manner with respect to the drive pulley 8 and the ten'sioningpulley 14 that the two strands of the belt which extend from thereversing pulley 13 toward the drive pulley 8 and the tensioning pulley14 respectively define a plane which is tangential with respect to bothpulleys 8 and 14.

The weight 15 and the difference in weight of the arms and 10" tends tomove the tensioning pulley 14 away from the whorl portion 5 of thespindle and thus to tension the belt 16. The distance between thereversing pulley 13 and the tensioning pulley 14 is fixed because of thefixed arrangement of the pulley pins and the movement of the bell cranklever 10 does not influence the length of belt between the two idlerpulleys. The shortening of the belt strand between the reversing pulley13 and the drive pulley 8 is substantially less than the lengthening ofthe effective distance between the whorl portion 5 and the tensioningpulley 14 during movement of the latter because of the difference in theeffective length of the lever arms 10' and 10".

The extent of pivoting movement of the lever 10 about the pin 9 issmall. Only very little lubrication is needed on the bearing faces ofthe lever 10 and of the rod 9, and such lubrication may readily beprovided by making the bearing face of the pivot portion 11 of a porous,powdered metal sleeve impregnated with oil, as is well known. Permanentlubrication adequate for the limited movement of the lever 10 on the rod9 may also be provided by facing either the rod or the pivot portion ofthe lever with a synthetic plastic material having a low coefiicient offriction such as nylon.

The apparatus illustrated is very quickly and easily disassembled, andreassembled, if desired without the use of tools. By pulling the spindleshaft 4 from the spindle bearing 2, the loop of the belt 16 whichsurrounds the whorl portion 5 is freed, and the belt may then be slippedoff the drive pulley and the idler pulleys. Alternatively, the longlever arm 10 may be moved toward the shaft 7 until the belt 16 is slackenough to be slipped from the reversing pulley 13 whereupon it may bepulled over the spindle shaft 4 without removal of the latter.

If it should be desired to perform maintenance Work on the idler pulleysor their supporting structure, the lever 10 may readily be raised untilthe pin 12 clears the slot 11' whereupon the lever may be laterallydisplaced and radially removed from the rod between two adjacent drivepulleys 8. Reassembly of the drive arrangement involves the same stepsin opposite order, and is simple. It does not require the use of tools,and proper alignment of all elements of the drive arrangement isautomatic without requiring any skill on the part of the operator ormechanic.

While only a single drive arrangement has been illustrated in FIG. 1,and one drive arrangement and elements of a second drive arrangement areshown in FIG. 2, it will be understood that there are as many drivepulleys 8' mounted on the drive shaft 7 as there are spindles 4 and thateach pulley and spindle cooperate with two idler pulleys mounted on alever 10 in the manner described above. The pulley arrangementassociated with each spindle is axially aligned close to the radialplane about the drive shaft 7 in which the axis of rotation of thespindle shaft 4 is located. The direction of movement of the belt issubstantially parallel to this radial plane ex- 4 cept for two turns ofapproximately as the belt travels about the whorl portion 5 of a spindleand about the circumference of the reversing pulley 13. In order toprevent the belt 16 from slipping from the reversing pulley, the beltreceiving face of the reversing pulley is preferably conically shaped asbest seen from FIG. 2.

Although belt travel in the direction of the arrow B is preferred, it isapparent that the drive arrangement of the invention may be employed fordriving the whorl portion 5 of the spindle in either direction withoutchanging the position of the drive or idler pulleys.

The apparatus may be enclosed in a housing as is customary, and may befurther equipped with brake elements for arresting movement of thespindles in a manner known in itself.

It should be understood of course, that the foregoing disclosure relatesonly to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that it is intendedto cover all changes and modifications of the example of the inventionherein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do not constitutedepartures from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in theappended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A drive arrangement for the spindles of a spinning machine and thelike, comprising, in combination, a support; a drive shaft mounted onsaid support for rotation about an axis; a plurality of drive pulleysmounted on said drive shaft in axially spaced relationship; a pluralityof spindles rotatable on said support, said spindles being aligned in arow substantially parallel to said axis, and each having a whorlportion; a plurality of two-armed levers, each pivoted on said supportabout a pivoting axis substantially parallel to the axis of said driveshaft; a tensioning and a reversing pulley respectively mounted on saidarms of each said levers for rotation about respective fixed axes; and aplurality of endless belt means, respective ones of said endless beltmeans being sequentially trained over each one of said drive pulleys, areversing pulley and a tensioning pulley on a coordinated one of saidlevers, and the whorl portion of a coordinated one of said spindles fortransmitting the rotary movement of said drive shaft to said spindles,said support having a cylindrical bearing face, and said levers beingformed with a substantially semi-cylindrical bearing face portion forpivoting engagement with a respective portion of the bearing face ofsaid support, one of said face portions being formed with acircumferentially extending slot having axially extending end walls, thearrangement further including stop means radially projecting from theother face portion engaging said one face portion, and extending intosaid slot for limiting pivoting movement of the respective lever.

2. A drive arrangement for the spindles of a spinning machine and thelike, comprising (a) a support,

(b) a plurality of spindles rotatably mounted on said support, eachspindle having a whorl portion,

(c) a drive shaft mounted on said support for rotation about an axissubstantially transverse to the extent of said spindles,

(d) a plurality of drive pulley means fixedly mounted on said shaft,

(e) a plurality of lever means, each of said plurality of lever meanshaving a longer and a shorter arm and being pivoted to said support formovements about a pivoting axis substantially parallel to said shaft,

(f) tensioning idler pulley means mounted on said longer arm,

(g) reversing idler pulley means mounted on said shorter arm,

(h) a plurality of endless belt means, each of said plurality of beltmeans being trained over one of said drive pulley means, the whorlportion of one of said plurality of spindles, the tensioning idlerpulley means and reversing idler pulley means of one of said levermeans, and again said one drive pulley means, and (1) pressure meansurging each lever means to pivot so as to increase the distance betweenthe related whorl portion and tensioning idler pulley means withoutappreciably decreasing the distance between the related reversing idlerpulley means and drive pulley means, said shaft and each lever meansbeing arranged so that on pivoting a lever means the related belt meansis tensioned by the related tensioning idler pulley means without beingappreciably slackened by the related reversing idler pulley means. 3. Inthe drive arrangement according to claim 2, the tensioning idler pulleymeans of each lever means being rotatable about an axis substantiallyparallel to the related pivoting axis, the reversing idler pulley meansof each lever means being rotatable about an axis substantiallytransverse to the related pivoting axis.

4. In the drive arrangement according to claim 2, said plurality oflever means being pivoted to said support for movements about a commonaxis.

5. In the drive arrangement according to claim 2, the tensioning idlerpulley means and reversing idler pulley means of each lever means beingsupported on opposite sides of a plane through the axis of said shaftand extending parallel to a spindle of said plurality of spindles.

6. In the drive arrangement according to claim 2, the tensioning idlerpulley means of each lever means being supported above a horizontalplane extending through the axis of said shaft.

7. In the drive arrangement according to claim 2, said shaft and eachlever means being provided so that both of said idler pulley means willbe inside the endless path of the related belt means.

References Cited in the file of this: patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,869,317 Schurr et a1 Jan. 20, 1959 2,953,894 Stahlecker et a1 Sept.27, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,219,575 France Dec. 28, 1959 675,928 GermanyMay 22, 1939

